OUR ANGLE ON
GOOGLE WORKSPACE
27° is a new video series from SADA offering an opinion, or a unique angle, on a particular topic in the realm of Google Workspace. Driven by product experts who work directly with our customers, the topics discussed will give you a glimpse into the shoptalk conversations we’d typically have in the office—something we’ve all missed while working remotely. To reignite these conversations, we’ve created 27°. Join us, and get a front-row seat as we share our thoughts on all things Google Workspace.
YOUR HOSTS
Troy Edwards
As an Account Manager at SADA, Troy Edwards works with all of SADA’s current Canadian customers to solve their next big challenge. His role gives him the opportunity to work with a wide range of businesses and Google Cloud implementations, allowing him to share customer perspectives in a unique way. Troy works hand-in-hand with our Customer Success and Engineering organizations, connecting SADA’s clients to the resources they need to fully leverage Google Cloud and tackle their biggest challenges.
Troy first joined SADA as a member of the Inside Sales team in August 2020 before being promoted to the role of Account Manager in January 2021. In his first six months at SADA, he earned his Google Cloud Architect Certification. Troy continues to be focused on growth and is currently studying for his Google Collaboration Engineer Certification exam this Spring.
Previously, Troy worked at SysAid Technologies as a Growth Account Executive helping global IT organizations modernize their ITSM platforms and follow ITIL best practices. He got his start in technology working for Softchoice as a Territory Sales Representative where he learned how an IT organization operates and drives business results.
With an education and career rooted in Advertising and Media, it’s no surprise that Troy started our new Google Workspace show 27° as a passion project. When he’s not working from home in Toronto, you can catch him at the driving range trying to shave a few strokes off of his golf game.
Rowan Manson
Rowan's passion for the incredible power of Google Workspace began while working for Cobry, a Google Cloud Partner in Scotland. For over five years as a technical deployment lead, he helped hundreds of organizations from SMB to Enterprise level move to and fully utilize Google Workspace. Over this time, Rowan developed an unshakable belief in the positive cultural transformation that an organization experiences with a move to Google.
Now as a Google Workspace Specialist for SADA, Rowan spearheads the efforts that are involved in the evaluation that an organization makes when considering a move to Google. He uses his comprehensive technical background and experience to guide SADA customers on the benefits that are gained by moving to a cloud-based productivity and collaboration solution.
Rowan holds over 15 Workspace certifications and is considered a thought leader in this space, especially on LinkedIn where he is a passionate poster sharing tips, tricks, and news about releases and enhancements.
Aside from his enthusiasm for cloud-based transformation, Rowan is also an avid blues guitarist and enjoys performing at the occasional open mic night.
EPISODES
Episodes are released every fortnight (2-weeks.)
Welcome to 27°
In the first-ever 27° episode, you meet hosts Troy and Rowan who welcome and explain the vision for this new series from SADA. You’re invited to dive into Google Workspace and explore the important role that productivity & collaboration play in our adaptation to the new normal of remote and hybrid work. This episode follows a bounty of fantastic new features released by Google Workspace, and it includes a classic customer use-case and a time-saving product demonstration.
Workspace updates
- Emoji reactions in Meet
- Time insights report
- Picture in picture
Customer story
Sony Pictures ImageWorks makes cinematic magic through modern collaboration. [View related Customer Story]
Product demo
Gmail: A demonstration of the integrated capabilities allowing you to set up calendar events, record notes and create Rooms for managing chat, files and tasks in one place, all without leaving your inbox!
Reaching collaboration equity
Because Google Workspace was born in the cloud, it removes many obstacles around collaboration, making it equally accessible for all. With Google Workspace, teams no longer have to wrestle with obstacles like storage limitations, machine requirements and different software versions. In this episode, you’ll learn about updates that come from real user feedback – from customers and even Google Workspace’s own product team. You’ll also hear about how SADA supported an over 100-year-old company in its journey to go Google and how the implementation exceeded expectations thanks to results-driven change management initiatives. This all highlights Google Cloud’s commitment to making collaboration easier and equal for all.
Workspace updates
- Google Chat suggestions before and after 1:1 Meet calls
- Compressed presenter toolbar in Google Slides
- Revision history in Jamboard
Customer story
Kravet achieves collaboration goals and empowers remote teams with Google Workspace. [View related Customer Story]
Product demo
Jamboard: Rowan uses Jamboard to demo the benefits of file collaboration in a pure cloud environment like Workspace, explaining why it is a game-changer.
Google Meet means business!
After an avalanche of Workspace update announcements from Google, the hosts break down a few features that continue to set Meet apart from its stand-alone video conferencing competitors. As part of the core tools included with Google Workspace, and no longer viewed as a “nice to have” add-on, Google Meet means business. In this episode, you’ll hear the story of how Workspace rescued a customer that was left with a fragmented IT environment after an acquisition. You’ll also learn about the trusted Change Management techniques that SADA uses to enable smooth migrations. Rowan then dives deep into the eight layers of Gmail security in a collaborative Jamboarding session that will leave you feeling safe.
Workspace updates
- Pin multiple video feeds in Meet
- Autozoom in Meet
- Google Maps integration with Google Calendar
Customer story
Digital First Media migrates over 6,000 users to Google Workspace [View related Customer Story]
Product demo
Jamboard: A deep dive into 8 layers of email protection built into Workspace.
Workspace for the Public Sector
In this special edition of 27°, we focus on Google Workspace in the public sector. Troy and Rowan talk to Google Workspace leaders and get an inside scoop on the vision and drivers of innovation specific to the vertical.
Special guests:
- Jeff Brown, Global Public Sector, Google Workspace Manager
Jeff brings a decade of experience working at Google as a Google Workspace (and G-suite) Manager and over 14 years working with some of the largest state and local governments in the Global Public Sector.
- John Cousens, Managing Director, Public Sector, Google Cloud Canada
Leading the Google Cloud business facing the Public Sector across Canada, John’s focus is earning the right to be a strategic partner for the digital transformation of Government. Combined with his previous experience leading at Salesforce, Dell, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and more, he has been in this space for over 20 years.
- Alec Humes, Public Sector Partnerships, Google Cloud Canada
Alec is the Public Sector Partnerships Lead for Google Cloud Canada, bringing over seven years of experience at Google Cloud and 15 years working in Enterprise IT, primarily focused on Partnerships.
Do also check out episode 44 of Cloud N Clear with Jeff Brown, who talks with Tony Safoian, CEO at SADA, about how cloud allowed the public sector to respond to the global pandemic.
Collaborate securely: protect, share and control data in Google Workspace
“We all know that the world has changed, and the need to be able to share information easily and collaborate securely is more relevant today than ever before.” – Andrew Lynch, VP of Sales, Virtru.
In this exclusive (and shorter) episode of 27°, we feature SADA customer and SaaS Alliance Partner, Virtru, which helps organizations unlock the power of data while safeguarding sensitive information through data encryption within Google Workspace.
Join Troy Edwards and Rowan Manson who interview Andrew about the growing need for improved data security for remote collaboration, plus the work SADA and Virtru have achieved in the public sector.
How Workspace is powering the future of Education from anywhere
Back again with 27 degrees! Our angle on everything Google Workspace. This episode takes a special dive into the benefits that #Workspace brings to the education sector. Troy and Rowan sit down with Google for Education leaders and for the first time will be joined by a SADA customer, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). They will focus on gaining insight into the Google Workspace journey and how it has improved the education sector’s productivity & collaboration.
Special guests:
- Drew Sidel, Head of North America, Google Workspace for Education
Drew began his Google journey in 2014 combining passions for education and technology in working with K-12 school districts to effectively deploy and utilize Google for Education solutions. Today, he leads a team that partners with K-12 and higher education organizations across North America to leverage Google tools, and positively impact the way students, faculty, and staff work and learn.
- Amanda Carlson, Deputy Director, Collaboration Services, VCU
Amanda has been working in higher education for over 18 years. She started working with VCU’s private and community institutions before joining the collaboration services team in 2012. This was after obtaining her Master’s in Informations Systems with VCU that same year. Amanda helps manage all facets of VCU’s Google Workspace tenets today.
- Connie Whetstine, Director, Collaborative Services, VCU
Connie has been working with the Collaborative Services team at VCU for over 17 years. During her time she has been involved in note one but two complete collaboration system migrations. Prior to VCU Connie worked for the Virginia State legislature administering their lotus notes and domino system.
- Samantha Lieberman, Program Manager, Google for Education
Samantha’s career started in the public sector of D.C. Before moving back to New York City in 2006, where she began her journey in education as Director of Operations for uncommon schools. Sam held multiple positions with the NYC department of education, directing teams in teacher effectiveness and instructional information technology. With her valuable experience in both the private sector and public education, she is now the Program Manager with Google for Education.
SADA and WeWork look at the future of work
Step into the future with 27 Degrees! Join Troy and Rowan as they explore the role Google Workspace will play in the future of work, with SADA customer, WeWork. Dive into a few updates to Google Meet and Chat that will expand the tools’ existing capabilities and improve the video meeting experience.
Then, listen to an amazing conversation with Chad Pierce, Head of Building Technology at WeWork. He shares a little about WeWork’s journey from Zoom to Google Meet and how SADA helped the company navigate such a large-scale migration.
Lastly, we get a visit from our neighborhood Workspace fortune-teller “Tarot Troy.” He predicts the future of work and discusses the many ways that Workspace will lead the way with work transformation.
Buckle up and tune in for this extremely fun edition of 27 Degrees!
Workspace updates
- Google Meet, an extension of some existing tools that Google Workspace provided to allow you to control your environment better. “Video Backgrounds”: What is the corporate or enterprise use case?
- Google Meet, hand raising geared towards inclusivity. Now has noise indication and hand raises are queued up so that if there are multiple people ready to speak you know who is first. Once the user has spoken the tool will remove the hand raise automatically. Increasing meeting participation and engagement.
- Google Chat, a new iteration within 1 to 1 call chats allows messages to be available before and after a meeting. now extends to larger group calls make more sense from the corporate use case.
Customer guest
Chad Pierce, Head of Building Technology at WeWork
Chad started his career as an IT infrastructure Manager and has held numerous positions on his way to Head of Building Technology for WeWork. He now joins the show to share a little about WeWork’s journey from Zoom to Google Meet and how SADA helped them navigate such a large-scale migration. Chad also shares WeWork’s perspective on the future of work and the role Google Workspace will play for them.
The significant cultural impact of Google Workspace
Troy Edwards and Rowan Manson break down the potential impacts Google Workspace can have on company culture.
Workspace updates:
- Google Chat: Rooms in chat are now Spaces. This marks the evolution of chat functionality, allows for tighter integration with things like real-time editing in Google Docs. No longer just a chat room!
- Google Sheets: This update is going to provide Intelligent Suggestions from within Google Sheets. When typing a formula in sheets, Google will begin to predict what you are trying to do with your data. And more often than not intelligently suggest the solution to that. This is an extension to the Explore functionality, meant to aid work practices.
- Google Meet: will allow you to set the availability of your working location per day. Set expectations and provide visibility into your workday. This update is meant to support the transformation of the workplace and the hybrid/remote model.
Special guest:
Michelle Ambrose, Chief of Staff, SADA
Recently joined the SADA family and will help discuss what culture really means and explore some of the impacts she saw first-hand that Google Workspace can have on an organization.
“Culture is what people do, and don’t say.” and “is your beliefs in action”.
“Workspace tools have a symbiotic relationship with collaboration”.
Her experience comes from almost 10 years of working at Google, holding positions on both the cloud go-to-market strategy and people operations teams. She focused on change management and internal communications both at the Australian federal/state level and in the technology sector.
Our guide to Workspace at Google Cloud Next ’21
Join Troy Edwards and Rowan Manson as they help us break down some of the many planned sessions, some of which SADA is proudly participating in. We start with SADA’s very own Kelly Wright, Director of Google Workspace at SADA, who will be part of the discussion on #certification preparation. Rowan then takes center stage to talk about his session with Chad Pierce, Head of Architecture and Solutions at WeWork and will share their thoughts on the future of work.
Google Cloud Next ‘21 Workspace wrap up
With Google Cloud Next ‘21 in our rearview, the gang at 27 Degrees brings you a special Workspace look back at Google Cloud’s flagship event.
Season 1 finale and awards
Join us for our Season 1 finale and a special look back at 2021 Google Workspace innovations and feature additions. Check in with our experts for a refresher on the most exciting Workspace insights of the year.
Dapper hosts Troy Edwards and Rowan Manson present awards for some of our favorite updates and moments throughout the season. Specific categories include favorite update, favorite guest moment, favorite blooper, and a Viewers Choice Award for worst on-camera appearance.
5 BOLD predictions for Google Workspace in 2022!
WELCOME BACK to Season 2 of 27degrees!
We’re thrilled to feature new guests, new segments, and a slightly new format to our angle on Google Workspace.
Join experts Troy Edwards, Account Executive, and Rowan Manson, Sr. Account Executive, at SADA, as they kick off a new season of our video series with 5 BOLD predictions for GoogleWorkspace in 2022!
Get valuable insights on how Google’s suite of productivity and collaboration tools will impact work environments moving forward.
Plus, see a recent Workspace update in action. A demo of Live Translation in Google Meet from English into 1 of 4 languages including German, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Optimizing Google Calendar to work in 2022
SADA product experts Troy Edwards and Rowan Manson break down a recently updated feature in Google Workspace.
Companion mode is designed to foster collaboration equity and make the virtual meeting experience even better when using one of two premium meeting hardwaredevices, GoogleMeet Hardware OR NestHubMax.
They’ll also take a look at each application within the Google Workspace suite in a segment called “Let’s #Google, #Workspace.”
Make sure you get the most value out of these productivity tools, whether you are leveraging remote work or online school.
Watch the latest episodes of 27 DEGREES on the SADA YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
You can also SAVE THE DATE to attend our upcoming Google Workspace Hangout on April 7th.
Hit the subscribe button for notifications! OR Follow the LinkedIn Event here: http://ow.ly/6Bau50ImacX
This is a LIVE Q&A event and will be available to anyone who is looking for more exposure to Google Workspace updates, OR has questions and need answers about the future of work.
Day in the life of a Salesperson on Workspace
27Degrees season2 is in full swing! Check out episode 3 as our angle on Google Workspace explores a day in the life of a workspace salesperson.
Take a journey and discover what it’s like to work in different roles and use these productivity and collaboration tools daily. SADA product experts Troy Edwards and Rowan Manson walk you through selling with GoogleWorkspace and other roles such as Human Resources, Marketing, Teachers, Students, & Executive Assistants get value from them.
They introduce one of the latest platform updates, the new Gmail interface. Manage the other tools integrated into your email much easier. Users will now see four distinct sections for email, Google Chat, Spaces, & Google Meet, providing full access and functionality of each Workspace tool.
Google I/O and Google Workspace Summit ‘22 Wrap Up
Check out episode 4 as Troy and Rowan recap the hottest news and announcements from two major events by Google: Google I/O and the Google Workspace Summit.
Listen in as we walk through the various announcements at Google I/O, including a sneak peek of the first-ever smartwatch from Google announced with Pixel Watch, expected to launch this fall.
See a real-time demonstration of live language translation using Google Glass: a product helping people worldwide connect in ways that we have never seen before.